Take 16 arts writers and a record-breaking 2,088 shows. Arts editor ANDREW EATON explains how our Top 60 list came about
THE SCOTSMAN PUTS A LOT OF THOUGHT INTO ITS EXHAUSTIVE Edinburgh Fringe coverage, so we've also put a lot of thought into this Top 60. Here's how we did it. When this year's Fringe programme was published, we asked 16 of our writers and critics each to nominate five shows. Once we had removed shows nominated more than once, we had just short of 60 choices, which we rounded up with a couple of picks by me and deputy arts editor Roger Cox.
So, if there's any bias towards particular venues or genres, it's entirely accidental. We've listed our choices according to the sections in the official guide, which we're giving away in some editions of today's paper.
Of course, this is only a taster – some of the strongest shows at this year's Fringe may well be ones nobody even knows about yet. To find out about those, read our daily Festival Review from Saturday, 2 August.
THEATRE
Absolution
Assembly @ George Street, 31 July to 25 AugustIF EVER you needed proof that the much-touted Fringe conflict between comedy and theatre is a phoney war, just look at the booming all-round Fringe creativity of comedy stars like Daniel Kitson, Bill Bailey and Owen O'Neill. O'Neill's new play is a dark, serious comedy about a man arrested for killing and mutilating Catholic priests; watch out for a fast, disturbing show directed by Rachel O'Riordan, who brought us Richard Dormer's fantastic performance as Alex Higgins in Hurricane, in 2003. JM
MUSIC
Camille: The Dark Angel
Assembly @ The Queen's Hall, 4-13 AugustTHE Irish chanteuse has the voice of an angel and, outside of August, is unlikely to be spotted north of the Border. O'Sullivan is back again this year with an irresistible-sounding set of songs by the likes of Brel, Waits, Cave and Bowie, so catch her while you can. MB
COMEDY
Count Arthur Strong: The Man Behind the Smile
Assembly @ George Street, 31 July to 25 August STEVE Delaney's superb comedy creation, an irascible old actor whose reminiscences are addled by early onset dementia and alcohol, inspires a broad following. His audiences are made up of silver-haired, retired gentlefolk who know the Count from his excellent Radio 4 series and considerably younger comedy connoisseurs who know a true original when they see one. Arthur's brilliantly realised collection of verbal and physical tics occasionally threaten to spill over into surrealism, but always stay on the right side of good, old-fashioned hilarity. RF
DANCE & PHYSICAL THEATRE
Scottish Dance Theatre
Zoo Southside, 12-24 August SCOTLAND'S national contemporary dance company has a large repertoire of works to draw from, and each year selects just two to bring to the Fringe. The standard is always high, but this may well be their strongest programme to date. Choreographer Liv Lorent is incapable of creating a bad step, and her passionate work, tenderhook, is a joy to behold. Meanwhile, Israeli choreographer, Hofesh Shechter's Dog shifts from joyful celebration to chilling fear in seconds. KA
COMEDY
Phil Nichol: 8 Nights Only
The Stand, 1-23 August THIS year there is no theme, no story. "Just jokes and funny songs" says The Stand brochure. Which is a bit like advertising The Scissor Sisters doing "just a couple of numbers". Even better, you get to experience this seismically powerful award-winning comic force in the intimacy of The Stand. Nichol is only doing eight shows, so book now.. KC
THEATRE
The Caravan
Pleasance Courtyard, 4-25 August SAY what you like about the Edinburgh Fringe, it always provides a rapid creative response to neglected aspects of the year's news. Played out in a tiny caravan at the Pleasance Courtyard, Look Left Look Right's new show examines the plight of people left homeless after last year's major floods in England. They thought they would be back home in a few weeks; but a year on, thousands are still living in caravans like these. JM
COMEDY
Arthur Smith's Public Lecture: The Toilet Role of Arturart in the History of Western Representation
Assembly @ George Street, 16 AugustWHO else but Arthur Smith would hire a four-storey Georgian House in the New Town and fill it with his own works of art? Arturart, which won Spirit of the Fringe last year, returns to 15 Queen Street this year. Last year's exhibits included a collection of complaints from Arthur's neighbours. For one night only the great absurdist appears at the Assembly Rooms to explain what he's up to. Nudity is guaranteed – but don't let that put you off. CS
DANCE & PHYSICAL THEATRE
Balé de Rua
Assembly @ Assembly Hall, 31 Jul to 25 August THE melting pot of cultures that make up Brazil come under the spotlight in this energetic dance show. Hip hop, street dance, capoeira and salsa are all thrown into the mix, along with the joy and pain of the Afro-Brazilian's troubled past. Many of the dancers hail from working class favelas, giving the show a powerful authenticity and infectious rhythms that make it impossible for the audience to sit still. KA
COMEDY
Stewart Lee: Scrambled Egg
The Stand, 3-24 August STEWART LEE is an awe-inspiring performer. Well, he inspires my awe, anyway. His intelligence, his creativity, his surgically precise timing and his irresistible power to analyse ad absurdum combine with an encyclopaedic knowledge of The Incredible Hulk and an expertise with the pregnant pause that makes Harold Pinter sound like Tim Vine to create a master of the comic art and craft. Lee is offering something old, something new and some "work in progress". Take plenty of awe and go see. KC
THEATRE
Pornography
Traverse Theatre, 28 July to 24 August NEW Traverse director Dominic Hill signals a new era of cross-border co-operation at the Traverse with this world premiere from up-and-coming London playwright Simon Stephens. Co-produced by the Traverse and Birmingham Rep, Pornography captures that moment in British history between the announcement of London's successful Olympic bid on 6 July 2005, and the 7/7 bombings less than 24 hours later, as the nation's mood crashes from euphoria and promise into devastation and fear. JM
COMEDY
Amsterdam Underground Comedy Collective Presents Hans Teeuwen/Micha Wertheim
Pleasance Dome, 1-24 August DUTCHMAN Hans Teeuwen divides opinion between those who think him a comic genius and those who think him a comic genius who might benefit from a tough director and some severe editing. Surely one of the top five comics in the world, he's a strong bet to produce some of the funniest moments of the festival, if only by reprising his inexplicably hilarious song about the clairvoyant Nostradamus's trousers. Teeuwen's hour alternates with countryman Micha Wertheim's, the younger comic having a stab at becoming the Fringe's most controversial act. JR
THEATRE
66a Church Road – A Lament, Made of Memories and Kept in Suitcases
Traverse Theatre, 5-24 AugustFEW performers can move a Fringe-fatigued reviewer (to anywhere other than the bar, that is) but Daniel Kitson is one of them. C-90, his subtle, funny, tender show, a sell-out last year, made my Fringe. This year it's a "break up show" for the flat Kitson moved out of after six years so you can expect poignant perfection. CB
COMEDY
A Day With Doug
Various venues, 23 August UNIQUE is a word hopelessly overused in brochure and review alike, but Doug Stanhope's Edinburgh offering is truly a unique show. There is only one show, one day only, for only one person, with the one and only Doug Stanhope. A pore-openingly awesome burst of genius, daring and hubris created as a gloriously Stanhopeful protest against the commercial cuckoo of The Edinburgh Comedy Festival that this year is squatting in the nest of the Fringe. It will, however, cost you £7,349 (£7,348 conc). KC
DANCE & PHYSICAL THEATRE
InvAsian Festival: Skywalk
ClubWEST @ Quincentenary Hall, 3-25 August WALKING into a conference-style back room at the Hilton Hotel last August, my expectations of MBCrew's show were rock bottom. The title Ballerina Who Loved A B-Boy didn't instil much confidence either. How wrong I was. The Korean breakdance crew turned out to have one of the most exciting, slickly choreographed and enjoyable shows of last year's Fringe. Now, MBCrew are back with brand new show, Skywalk – and this time, my expectations are sky high. KA
COMEDY
Simon Munnery's AGM 2008
The Stand, 31 July to 25 AugustIF STAND-UP comedy is art, then Simon Munnery is its Salvador Dali. A genius cum charlatan, a true original that Spike Milligan would recognise as a kindred spirit. Like Milligan he can be infuriatingly inconsistent and self-indulgent so this show may only be merely good. However, Munnery has instituted a tradition where the audience can join him at a nearby pub after the show for two hours or so of rambling, interactive fun where the punters provide as much entertainment as he does. An unforgettable experience. RF
THEATRE
InvAsian Festival: The Self-Murder
clubWEST @ Quincentenary Hall, 3-25 August RUSSIA has the world's highest level of suicide among young people (though Wales looks to be fast catching up). Here, a young Russian company have a stab at explaining the reasons why – in English, thankfully. So, not the lightest of productions, but if it casts light on the issue while offering good drama, it's worth your time. MG
COMEDY
Vladimir McTavish: Top 50 Greatest Scots Of All Time … Ever!
The Stand, 30 July to 24 August ADMITTEDLY, McTavish (Paul Sneddon) and his alter ego, football pundit Bob Doolally, are usually very good value rather than utterly outstanding but Doolally's 1997 debut, 101 Great Moments in Scottish Sport, was painfully funny. Sneddon's true talent is in celebrating the essential dreichness of being Scottish and, as such, he nails the heroic frustration of it even more so than Renton's "It's shite being Scottish …" speech in Trainspotting. A dark horse of a show. RF
THEATRE
Vincent
Assembly @ George Street, 31 July to 25 AugustIT'S life, Jim, but not as we know it. Star Trek's Mr Spock, Leonard Nimoy, brings his passionate one-man play about Vincent van Gogh's brother Theo to the stage. Directed by Fringe impresario Guy Masterson and set in Paris in the 1890s, the story is told in Vincent's words through the many letters he wrote to his brother before his suicide. The Hollywood legend is no stranger to the theatre, having trod the boards since the age of eight, and previous theatre outings of this well-scripted play have attracted rave reviews. AM
COMEDY
Elizabeth and Raleigh: Late But Live
Underbelly's Pasture, 31 July to 25 August FOLLOWING the success of last year's insult and witticism-slinging in the guises of Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, writer Stewart Lee and director Owen Lewis have postponed the opportunity to portray the historical rivalry of runners Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, choosing instead to cast comedians Simon Munnery and Miles Jupp as Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Raleigh. With fewer historical sources to draw upon this time, Lee has invented a lot more, with this instalment featuring more music, more trampolines and rather more sexual tension. JR
THEATRE
The Factory
Pleasance Courtyard, 1-24 August BADAC Theatre Company call their work "extreme political art", and their latest show is bound to be one of the most controversial of the Fringe. In a cellar beneath the courtyard, they re-create the experience of entering the Auschwitz gas chambers, in relentless detail. Is there anyone who still needs such a graphic reminder of the Holocaust? Or is it a story – a nightmare, a warning – that can never be retold too often? JM
CHILDREN'S SHOWS
The Mozart Question: Michael Morpurgo
Assembly @ George Street, 31 July to 25 August FOR the past two years, the literary genius of Michael Morpurgo has been translated to the Fringe stage – each show winning five star reviews. Following in the wake of Private Peaceful and Aesop's Fables, The Mozart Question will have you weeping in your seat. Depicting Jewish musicians forced to play in the Nazi death camps of the Second World War, this is one children's show where parents don't just tag along for the ride. KA
THEATRE
The Gospel of Anton
Pleasance Courtyard, 30 July to 25 August FREQUENTLY brutal and undeniably invigorating, Russian physical theatre troupe Derevo are regulars on the Fringe, picking up two Fringe Firsts in the past. Their trademark combination of powerful action and emotive clowning often leaves audiences speechless – unable to explain what they've just seen, but profoundly moved by the experience of seeing it. "A new work is born," proclaims the company's splendidly avant-garde co-founder Anton Adasinsky, describing the latest show as tackling sex, religion, politics and violence with unprecedented candour. Brace yourself. SS
COMEDY
Arnold Brown presents Happiness: The Search Continues
The Stand, 30 July to 24 August IT HAS been said that the guys at Greenwich take their timing from Arnold Brown. OK, it has now. And they should. This is comedy like lace spun from steel. Brown muses and twinkles, he considers and wonders aloud and, as he would enquire, "why not ?". He does it with an intelligence that fascinates and a charm that disarms utterly. Cleverer than Gordon and with fewer knob gags than Roy Chubby, Arnold is the Brown to watch this August. KC
THEATRE
On The Waterfront
Pleasance Grand, 31 July to 25 August STEVEN BERKOFF directs this adaptation of Elia Kazan's classic 1954 movie about corruption on the New York docks and the mob family ties that bind. The original film had Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint as cinema's sexiest couple, so there's a lot to live up to, but Berkoff's Fringe track record speaks for itself and this heavyweight production by the Nottingham Playhouse arrives in Edinburgh on a wave of admiring reviews which suggest that it could be a contender (sorry, couldn't resist). FS
COMEDY
Office Party
Underbelly's Pasture, 2-25 August ENTER the architectural nightmare that is Edinburgh University's Appleton Tower, and find yourself at the office bash to end all workplace parties. The Fringe Programme invites you to laugh your head off and dance your pants down at this rare combination of outrageous theatre show and wild party. Cal McCrystal of The Mighty Boosh and Cirque Du Soleil directs, and fabulous burlesque star Ursula Martinez leads the cast, in a show that formally ends after a couple of hours, but continues – for those in the mood – far into the night. JM
COMEDY
Miles Jupp: Drifting
Gilded Balloon Teviot, 30 July to 24 AugustA VERY polite, well-spoken young man who gets better every year. Jupp has gone from strength to strength since he dropped his upper-class idiot stage persona and come out of the closet as an upper-class intellectual. As a result, there's less in the way of painstakingly constructed gags and much more self-effacing autobiographical anecdotes that are transformed into comic gold by Jupp's immense personal charm and wit. RF
THEATRE
The Aluminum Show
Pleasance Courtyard, 30 July to 25 August EACH year at the Fringe there are a handful of shows that prompt "have you seen … ?" conversations between friends. The Aluminum Show looks set to be one of them. Created by Israeli choreographer, Ilan Azriel, the production has multi-generational appeal and no shortage of the wow factor, fusing dance, movement, special effects and aluminium of every shape and size. You'll never look at metal in the same way again. KA
COMEDY
Otis Lee Crenshaw
Pleasance Courtyard, 30 July to 25 August RICH Hall's Perrier Award-winning, guitar-slinging Tennessee white trash alter ego Crenshaw hasn't been seen at the Fringe since 2004, and we can safely assume that he's been up to a whole bunch of no good in the interim, or perhaps just in jail again. Expect plenty of un-Nashville friendly classics such as Do Anything You Want to the Girl (Just Don't Hurt Me), next to new songs and vignettes based on whatever unsavoury behaviour the trailer park inhabiting southerner has been up to since we last heard him croak. MJ
THEATRE
Joan Rivers: Work in Progress by a Life in Progress
Udderbelly's Pasture, 7-25 AugustIF THERE was a play about Joan Rivers I'd want to see it. If there was a play by Joan Rivers I'd want to see it. If there was a play starring Joan Rivers I'd want to see it. And this is all three. The woman is an icon, a role model, a surgical miracle and a brilliant comic technician. She has more balls than the two generations of comics in her wake. She just arranges hers differently. She is a wonder and a joy to watch, an irresistible comedic force. And this time, apparently, it's personal.This autobiographical piece could be good, but I think it will be great. KC
COMEDY
Adventures of Pink Peter Sweet
Teviot, 2-24 August STUART Miles (he was the one who, er …) dips his toes into the comedy waters with "gratuitous scenes of cross-dressing and wanton exaggeration". One of Stuart's alter egos, Annette Curtan, is already due to shoot a pilot cookery series for the tellybox (shouldn't he have made that earlier?). Why Pink though? Surely we're not talking gay kids' telly personality? That never happens. MG
MUSIC
Loveboat Big Band
Spiegel Garden, 11 and 18 August (not in Fringe programme, see
www.spiegeltent.net for info)
TWO nights only to don your glad-rags and swing the night away, in company with this crème de la crème Edinburgh collective, including members of Mr McFall's Chamber, Orkestra del Sol, Blazin' Fiddles, La Boum and the Eliza Carthy Band. Combining the glamour of old-style cruise liners with a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humour, they perform original arrangements of vintage swing numbers, classic show tunes and romantic torch-songs, with sassy three-part female harmonies fronting a 13-piece line-up of strings, brass, piano and percussion. SW
THEATRE
Death by Chocolate
Zoo Southside, 1-24 August MR OAK is dead, forensics have swept the place, but no-one knows whodunit. That's up to us, the audience, in Vanessa B Baylen's "interactive murder mystery with chocolate tasting". A ticket makes you a detective who interviews suspects (the actors), sifts through the evidence, confers (or not) with fellow inquisitors, ponders over clues. The clever script in this "Cluedo without a board" promises plenty of twists and turns. And if it all gets too much, there's always the chocolate. SM
COMEDY
Terry Saunders: Figure 8
Underbelly's Baby Belly, 31 July to 24 August WITH his technically unreliable multimedia storytelling, Terry Saunders has established his own genre of poignant, melancholic whimsy and is the latest of the so-called "lo-fi" comics to suggest he could break through to the level of recognition enjoyed by Josie Long and David O'Doherty. This year, he presents the tale of a man musing on mortality and the death of musician Elliot Smith, as well as a one-off show for Radio 4 about Reg, a pensioner who sets out to the find the long lost son he simply doesn't have. JR
MUSICALS & OPERA
Only the Brave Musical
Theatre @ George Square, 31 July to 25 AugustHE never won the lead role of Joseph on Any Dream Will Do, but Scotland's own Keith Jack has a show of his own in this musical look at D-Day, complete with 30-strong cast and orchestra. It's "an epic story of love, friendship and sacrifice" – always nice to see a bit of ambition at the Fringe. Wonder how a loincloth looks with a tin helmet. MG
THEATRE
Jim Rose Circus
Udderbelly's Pasture, 31 July to 25 AugustWHEN a Fringe company announces its "most shocking show ever", the standard response is to roll one's eyes. When Jim Rose says it, it is time to gird your constitution. The ringmaster of the perverse returns to Edinburgh to uphold his reputation for indecency with another queasy showcase of sideshow sadomasochism. This time his outrageous roster of acts encompass, puppetry of the labia and an exponent of something ominously called anal painting... FS
COMEDY
John Hegley: Beyond our Kennel
Pleasance Courtyard, 6-25 August POET. Comedian. Ukulele maestro. Luton Town fan. Spectacles wearer. Dog fancier. Solid gold. Hegley is a hardy perennial, and always the embodiment of the spirit of the Fringe. It's no mean feat to make audience participation seem anything less than terrifying, yet Hegley manages it time and time again. MB
MUSIC
My Friend the Chocolate Cake
Spiegel Garden, 12-22 AugustLONG-TIME Fringe regulars may recognise this Australian septet's curious moniker from their previous Spiegeltent appearances in the late 1990s – and anyone who heard them then will likely be first in the ticket queue. With an instrumental line-up of piano, violin, cello, mandolin, guitar, double bass and percussion, plus co-founder David Bridie's huskily evocative vocals, they cite influences as diverse as Arvo Pärt and Celtic trad, Penguin Café Orchestra and Billy Bragg, behind a bewitching, genre-bending mix of lush instrumentals and literate acoustic pop. SW
THEATRE
A California Seagull
C, 30 July to 9 August THERE'S something about Chekhov's The Seagull – the broken dreams of a young actress, the sniping insecurity of an older one – that translates easily into present-day Hollywood. Playwright Alison Carey has already chalked up several awards for her rewriting of the Russian masterpiece set in contemporary LA. It's brought to Edinburgh by talented young company, the Red Chair Players, who have won Fringe Firsts for Bang Bang You're Dead and The Laramie Project. SM
COMEDY
The People versus Jerry Sadowitz
Udderbelly's Pasture, 15-24 August JERRY Sadowitz is the master of "I can't believe he just said that" comedy. He is a bile-fuelled, terminally angry ball of rage with a razor sharp comic brain. He's brilliant, but the last person on earth you would invite to enjoy a bit of light-hearted banter with the general public. For the reckless and the fearless this will be an opportunity to trade insults with the best. I will be hiding at the back wearing a false beard. CS
THEATRE
Footsbarn's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Big Top, Calton Hill, 1-25 AugustSHAKESPEARE is hardly in short supply at the Fringe, but this promises to be something special – an internationally acclaimed company in a purpose-built venue in one of Edinburgh's most visually striking spots. In terms of event theatre (although it's a very different kind of show, so this is where the comparisons end), it promises to be this year's Fuerzabruta. AE
COMEDY
La Clique
Spiegel Garden, 6-30 AugustTHE Spiegel Garden hasn't been quite the same without La Clique, so it's good to see it back. Expect cameo appearances from Clique alumni Camille O'Sullivan and the Caesar Twins, who both have their own shows this year, alongside the usual assortment of quality burlesque, circus and musical acts. AE
THEATRE
Deep Cut
Traverse Theatre, 31 July to 24 August CONTINUING the Rachel Corrie-esque vogue for creating theatre from testimony, this play concerns Private Cheryl James's death, one of four apparent suicides at Deepcut Barracks in Surrey between 1995 and 2002. Written by Philip Ralph for Cardiff theatre Sherman Cymru, the play is assembled from interviews with James' family and incident investigators, and from official reports relating to Deepcut. If it lives up to its promise, Deep Cut should work on procedural and emotive levels, and it'll be fascinating to see if the playwright dares state his own conclusion on events. DP
COMEDY
Ivan Brackenbury's Hospital Radio Christmas Show
Pleasance Courtyard, 30 July to 25 August HAVING debuted Ivan Brackenbury at the Fringe as a relative unknown in 2007, former XFM presenter Tom Binns returns to Edinburgh with heavy expectation resting on his character's shiny-tracksuited shoulders, following a Spirit of the Fringe win and a nomination for the If.Comedy Awards last August. Symptoms, if exposed to this boundlessly energetic, cringe-inducing cheesy hospital disc jockey, will include heavy laughter and even heavier groaning. His new show is Christmas themed, so things can only get sicker. MJ
MUSIC
Dizzee Rascal
Liquid Room, 21 August T ON the Fringe's new incarnation, The Edge, hardly errs on the risky side, but any line-up featuring Dizzee Rascal – simply the finest rapper the UK has produced in a generation – could hardly be called conservative. On latest album Maths + English the Londoner has crossed pop, metal and party hip-hop over with grime to create his most diverse work yet, while remaining just as witty and provocative a voice as that which scooped the Mercury Prize for his debut Boy in da Corner back in 2003. MJ
COMEDY
Limmy's Show
The Stand, 31 July to 24 August COMEDY for the YouTube generation. Glaswegian web designer Brian Limond developed a cult following for his website Limmy.com and decided to make the leap into live stand-up. Astonishingly, he turned out to be very good at it. Limmy's Show incorporates prank calls, character comedy and beautifully made little films. As a performer Limmy is foul-mouthed, juvenile and immensely likeable. You'll need to check out the website to find out why fans in the audience are shouting: "Requiem". CS
THEATRE
The Bird and The Bee
Underbelly, 31 July to 24 August MULTI AWARD-winning writers Al Smith and Matt Hartley have teamed up to create two new plays, each following a different character towards the same shared ending. You don't have to watch both, but a more fulfilling experience is promised if you do. Smith and Hartley's new partnership has potential after their previous Fringe successes (Enola and Radio) and the playwrights are backed by the UK's major forces for new writing. SS
MUSIC
Night of the Gypsies
The World @ St George's West, 1-31 August TIPPED as the Next Big Thing on the gypsy music scene, the 18-piece Filarmonika Romanes was formed in 2006 by Damien Draghici, a seventh-generation virtuoso of the traditional pan flute, and their 2007 debut album, Magdalena, shifted 150,000 units on the day of its release in Romania. Featuring six vocalists, together with accordion, saxophone, violin, darabuka, guitar, double bass, timbales, cimbalom and percussion, their dynamic, impassioned, semiimprovised sound merges traditional Roma songs and tunes with flamenco, Greek, Turkish, rock and jazz influences. SW
COMEDY
Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler: Double Down Hearts
Assembly @ George Street, 11-23 August LAST year's Fringe debut saw New Yorker Schaal serve up some very strange characters, ideas and cake. It was by turns hilarious and weird, but always worth watching. Since then she's popped up on cult sitcom Flight of the Conchords and the year's best drama, Mad Men. This year, aided by partner Braunohler, there's "a sordid tale of gambling, death and harelips". Just so long as there's cake. MG
THEATRE
Charlie Victor Romeo
Udderbelly's Pasture, 31 July to 25 August "UNIQUE, riveting and loud" is the description of this verbatim show based around black box transcripts from six real-life aeroplane crashes. The piece has been much praised for its documentary-style realism and arresting use of sound, receiving particular commendation for depicting the human psychology in crisis. While it's unlikely to aid a fear of flying, the US Air Force found the portrayal of the crews' actions so inspiring that they filmed the show to use as a training video. SS
COMEDY
Mark Watson
Pleasance Courtyard, 30 July to 25 AugustHARDCORE Mark Watson fans will be distraught to learn that the infinitely inventive stand-up has decided not to do one of his marathon 24 or 36-hour shows this year. And as far as we know he isn't planning to write another novel with the help of his audience either. On the plus side, though, he's playing the Pleasance Grand – so more people will get to see him than ever before. And without the usual distracting side-projects he'll now be able to focus all his attention on his regular shows. RC
THEATRE
Surviving Spike
Assembly @ George Street, 31 July to 25 August FEW will miss the symbolism of Michael Barrymore, one of the UK's most controversial household names, taking on the story of Spike Milligan – one of comedy's funniest and notoriously tormented figures. Richard Harris's Surviving Spike affords a surreal snapshot of Milligan's life as seen through the eyes of Norma Farnes, his agent, manager and confidante of over 30 years, showcasing the highs and lows of this comedy great's extraordinary talents. Former EastEnder and Strictly Come Dancing winner Jill Halfpenny co-stars. AM
COMEDY
Brendon Burns in F**k You I'm Brendon F**king Burns (Again) Part VI
Assembly @ George Street, 31 July to 24 August EVEN the title of this show made me laugh out loud. Brendon Burns, failed television presenter, former addict and winner of last year's If.Comedy award, returns with the latest instalment of his testosterone-fuelled life story. Burns is brash, loud and swears a lot – but he's also one of the most skilful and exciting stand-ups around. Even people who don't particularly like stand-up have been known to emerge from his shows grinning from ear to ear. CS
THEATRE
Jonny Woo: International Woman of Mr 'E'
Gilded Balloon, 30 July to 25 AugustTHE sequin-clad momma of the alternative drag scene, Jonny Woo ran away to New York to become a dancer à la Madonna and turned into a tranny instead. Well, it happens. Known as "the ringmaster of Shoreditch", this really is drag with a difference: funny, subversive and smart. CB
COMEDY
Louis CK: Chewed Up
Pleasance Courtyard, 15-16 August A MUST-SEE for any serious stand-up aficionado, Louis Szekely won an Emmy writing for the Chris Rock Show and will be seen in Ricky Gervais's forthcoming Hollywood directorial debut, This Side of Truth. Chewed Up is his concert show recorded for an HBO special in the US, a grippingly outspoken exploration of middle age from a man who doesn't seem to care which taboos he explodes and whose nose he wrenches out of joint. JR
DANCE & PHYSICAL THEATRE
Dance Base Presents... Enclosure 44
Edinburgh Zoo, 5-16 August THE Fringe is no stranger to setting its stall in weird and wonderful places and Dance Base look set to continue the tradition in suitable style, rocking up, as they are, to Edinburgh Zoo with this quirky site-specific piece. Performed by local Edinburgh talent, Janis Claxton Dance, it will see them showcase their piece from inside an animal enclosure, as they attempt to display through movement the animalistic nature within us all. Normal zoo admissions apply and no booking is required. AM
MUSICALS & OPERA
Cinderella
Assembly @ George Street, 31 July to 2 August THEY may be making their Fringe debut this year, but Scottish Opera's touring schedule means they are masters of the pared down, intimate performance. Rossini's ebullient, witty version of the fairytale, performed with a cast of seven accompanied by piano, will be one to savour. CB
COMEDY
Glenn Wool: Goodbye Scars
Underbelly, 31 July to 24 August THE tears and cocaine binges of a clown are an overused cliché, but Glenn Wool has found wonderful inspiration in his disintegrating marriage and divorce. A fiercely distinctive voice on the stand-up circuit, the philosophical Canadian combines the searingly political with the nakedly confessional and the ridiculously surreal. The story of his wedding night turning into the most Italian of dramas is a slow-burning belter, while his dubious re-casting of the Terminator movie is sublimely cruel mischief. JR
COMEDY
Aeneas Faversham Forever
Pleasance Courtyard, 30 July to 25 August YOUNG comedy trio The Penny Dreadfuls were such a hit at last year's Fringe that they scored themselves a radio show on BBC7. Now they return to their roots with what promises to be another uproarious and slickly performed comedy drama, set in the Victorian era. MB
THEATRE
A Drunk Woman Looks at the Thistle
Assembly @ George Street, 31 July to 25 August CRIME novelist Denise Mina's radical, rollicking rewrite of Hugh MacDiarmid's 1926 monologue in verse sold out at Oran Mór's A Play, a Pie and a Pint this spring. With all the ferocious energy and comic timing of Karen Dunbar in the driving seat, it's hardly surprising. Promising a full frontal assault on gender, nationalism and a lot else, Mina says she put in "something to offend everybody", and there's nothing Fringe audiences like better than that. SM
COMEDY
Andrew Clover: Dad Rules
Pleasance Dome, 30 July to 24 August CLOVER has wowed the crowds at the Fringe before, but you're more likely to have seen him lately in his Dad Rules column alongside Mrs Mills in the Sunday Times. His razor-sharp observations on life and young parenthood have been published as a book; now he brings them to the stage. Get a babysitter, and go and see him. MB
• The Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme is online now at
www.edfringe.com • The top 60 choices came courtesy of Kelly Apter, Claire Black, Matt Brereton, Kate Copstick, Roger Cox, Andrew Eaton, Rory Ford, Martin Gray, Malcolm Jack, Joyce McMillan, Susan Mansfield, Anna Millar, David Pollock, Jay Richardson, Fiona Shepherd, Claire Smith, Sally Stott and Sue Wilson.
